BRIDGING INFORMATION ACROSS RESEARCH ENTERPRISES: NOVEL APPLICATIONS OF INTEGRATIVE DATA ANALYSIS IN GERONTOLOGY

摘要

From cognitive to physical functioning, synthesis of information from multiple sources is a pervasive challenge for all aspects of gerontologic research. It is increasingly important for international comparisons. Presentations in this symposium highlight innovative applications of harmonization in several aging-related areas of scientific inquiry, and address important methodological challenges. The first presentation by Weir and colleagues will describe the development and implementation of the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP). The primary aims of HCAP was the assessment of dementia and mild cognitive impairment in the US Health and Retirement Study and its sister studies across the globe. They will report on important conceptual considerations. Lee reports on the causal effect of education on late-life cognition, by exploiting compulsory education laws. They compare effects from Western and non-Western countries and explore potential gender differences. This work is part of the Gateway to Global Aging project, and innovative program to common harmonize constructs across several international cohorts. Gross and colleagues illustrate an application of integrative data analysis across large international studies of cognitive function. They conducted factor analysis of item response data, for equating different versions of a neuropsychological test administered across 10 studies (N=120,099 older adults). They will report on important methodological challenges. Finally, Armstrong and colleagues report on a study that harmonized self-reported physical functioning across 8 behavioral intervention trials and externally scaled the construct to the US-nationally representative PROMIS initiative. They describe characteristics including test information for the scale, and criterion and convergent validity.